SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA 


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SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  FAMOUS 
OLD  TOWN 


PUBLISHED  BY 

The  Sandwich  Historical 
SOCIETY 


1914 


First  Parish  Church. 


INTRODUCTORY 


ERE  in  a  winding  glacial  valley,  with  its  streets 
shaded  by  great  elms,  lies  Sandwich,  by-th-sea. 
Back  from  the  village  streets  are  great  rolling  hills 
with  their  crests  topped  with  the  green  of  oak  and 

pine  and  threaded  with  quiet,  shady  woodland  roads.     From 

these  hills  one  may  look  down  into  the  twin  lakes  of  Shawme, 

set  like  crystal  gems  in  the  landscape. 

Stretching    forth  frcm  the  eastern    borders  of  the   town 

are  the  marshlands  breathing  their  salty,    life-giving  flavor. 

Beyond  these  are  the  white  sand   dunes   and   the   blue   sea, 

dotted  with  the  white  sails  of  fishing  boats. 


SANDWICH-BY-THE-SEA 


!,  1637,  ten  men  of  Saugus,  were 
given  liberty  by  the  Court  at  Plymouth  "to 
view  a  place  to  sit  down  and  have  sufficient 
lands  for  three  score  families."  These  men 
with  Edmund  Fi'eeman  as  leader,  founded 
the  town  of  Sandwich.  In  June,  the  bal- 
ance of  the  families  arrived  and  the  town 
containing  about  one  hundred  square  miles,  was  afterwards 
incorporated  in  1639.  By  an  act  of  the  legislature  in  1884,  the 
western  half  of  the  town  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town,  called 
Bourne. 

The  old  way  from  Plymouth  to  Sandwich  followed  the 
shore  and  came  through  Scussett,  now  Sagamore.  On  this 
road  the  first  house  erected  in  Sandwich  was  the  Tupper  House 
in  1637,  which  is  still  standing.  Coming  arovmd  by  Town 
Neck,  a  neck  of  land  held  in  common  by  pix>prietors,  since  the 
settlement  of  the  town  for  pasturage,  we  pass  on  the  right, 
the  Brick  house,  built  in  the  early  part  of  1800,  made  of  brick 
manufactured  on  Town  Neck,  and  occupied  by  Parson  Goodwin; 
later  it  became  a  Nye  house,  and  is  still  owned  by  a  descend- 
ant. 


Near  the  Green  School  House,  so  called,  was  the  old  Ship 
Yard  and  where,  within  the  memory  of  some  of  our  towns- 
people, ships  were  built  and  launched  on  Mill  River  Creek. 

The  site  of  the  old  Town  Pound,  instituted  when  the  town 
was  first  settled,  is  near  the  turn  of  the  road,  that  bi'ings  in 
full  view,  the  First  Parish  church. 

This  church  was  organized  in  1633,  when  a  thatch  covered 
meeting  house  and  pastor's  house  were  built,  as  shown  in  a 
pen  and  ink  drawing  executed  about  this  time,  reprepresenting 
the  Tupper  House  in  the  back  ground. 

This  edifice  was  called  old  in  1644,  and  the  town  voted  to 
repair  it.  Town  Meetings  were  held  in  this  church  and  the 
buildings  which  succeeded  it,  through  all  the  years,  until  1834, 
when  the  Town  Hall  was  built. 

Shear jashub  Bourn,  son  of  Richard,  the  renowned  Indian 
missionary,  gave  a  silver  communion  set  to  this  church  which 
is  now  preserved  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  His 
son,  Meletiah  Bourn,  built  a  house  for  his  bride  in  1692  which 
is  still  in  excellent  repair.  This  house  stands  on  the  embank- 
ment to  the  left  as  we  turn  west  from  the  church,  and  after  a 
lapse  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  years,  the  original  clapboards 
and  chimney  are  in  good  condition. 

Next  comes  the  Congregational  Chm-ch  which  society  was 
formed  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  First  Parish  Church, 
agreeing  with  their  pastor  Rev.  Jonathan  Burr  and  with  him 
making  a  new  society,  incorporated  by  the  legislature  in  1814 
as  the  Calvinistic  Congregational  Society. 

The  Deacon  Eldred  House  near  the  pond  on  the  right,  was 
built  as  early  as  1756.  while  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 
a  little  fai-ther  on,  is  a  much  older  house,  now  owned  by  the 
widow  of  Col.  Charles  Ledgard  Norton,  a  man  well  known  in 
the  military  and  literary  world. 

Standing  on  an  eminence  facing  the  street  and  pond  on  the 
right,  is  the  Lake  House,  a  popular  summer  home  for  our  city 
friends,  once  the  famous  Sandwich  Academy.  Parson  Burr 


was  ths  first  master  after  its  completion  in  1804.  Bet  1  in 
Smith  was  a  famous  teacher  for  many  years,  and  lived  in  the 
boi  ?e  back  from  the  Academy,  which  was  one  of  .the  earliest 
houses.  On  the  left,  stands  a  dignified  old  dwelling  called 
''The  Lindens."  from  the  grand  old  trees  in  the  front,  owned 
for  many  years  by  a  famoxis  surveyor  of  the  times,  Jesse  Boy- 
den,  owned  in  recent  years  by  the  late  Rev.  J.  J.  Roberts,  D. 
D.  of  New  York. 

The  Tobey  house  across  on  the  right  is  one  of  our  attractive 
old  hcmes  which  has  always  been  kept  in  gccd  repair,  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  a  noted  lawyer  of  Brooklyn,  who  is  a 
grandson  of  Thomas  Tobey.  whose  home  it  was. 

We  find  another  Tobey  House  on  the  same  side  of  the  road 
after  climbing  the  hill,  quaint  and  beautiful,  with  its  present 
owner  a  New  York  lady,  who  keeps  everything  as  nearly  as 
possible,  like  the  old  days.  Leaving  this  road  we  take  one  to 
the  right  called  Shawme,  which  leads  above  the  two  beautiful 
lakes  and  down  to  the  head  of  Grove  Street  near  the  Catholic- 
Cemetery.  The  cottages  on  this  road  are  occupied  only  in 
summer  and  then  by  prominent  men.  busy  the  rest  of  the  year 
in  musical  and  literary  pursuits. 

Passing  the  cemetery  with  its  many  imposing  monuments 
we  come  to  the  entrance  of  two  old  houses,  built  by  Wings, 
one  of  which  still  remains  in  the  family.  Between  these  two 
estates  the  Wing  family  of  America  has  placed  a  tablet  on  a 
granite  marker. 

In  1811,  "leave  was  granted  by  the  town  to  Samuel  Wing 
ard  others,  to  erect  a  dam  and  works  of  a  cotton  factory  in  the 
stream  between  the  upper  and  lower  ponds  in  Sandwich  village 
at  a  place  near  Wolf-trap  Neck,  so  called. "  This  plant  was 
later  used  to  manufacture  tacks  and  fater  still  as  a  braid 
factory. 

Following  our  way  back  toward  the  center  of  the  village, 
we  pass  the  old  Town  Cemetery,  the  land  for  which  was  ap- 
propriated by  an  order  of  the  Town  in  July  1663. 


Here  lie  buried,  the  makers  of  our  town,  the  men  and 
women  who  built  their  homes  here,  reared  their  families  and 
lived  their  lives,  leaving  an  impression,  for  good  or  evil,  upon 
the  later  generations. 

We  note  among  the  prominent  epitaphs,  that  of  Titus 
Winchester,  minister  William's  slave,  who,  when  at  the  death 
of  his  master,  was  given  his  freedom  and  a  sum  of  money,  began 
to  save  his  little  wealth,  adding  to  it  by  industry  and  frugal- 
ity. When  his  will  was  read,  he  had  given  the  First  Parish  a 
clock  and  a  sum  of  money,  the  income  of  which  is  still  used 
as  he  desired,  toward  the  maintenance  of  the  church. 

This  was  in  1808  and  the  clock  was  used  until  the  present 
one  was  given  to  replace  it  by  a  prominent  native  of  the  town, 
Hon.  Jonathan  Bourne. 

We  find  the  headstone  of  Capt.  Peter  Adolph  whose  widow 
gave  to  the  church  a  bell  in  1702,  because  of  her  gratitude  to 
the  men  of  Sandwich  who  found  her  husband's  body  cast  a- 
shore  from  a  wreck  and  gave  it  burial  in  this  cemetery. 

This  bell  was  used  on  all  public  occasions  untill  1763,  when 
a  larger  one  was  bought  after  repairs  to  the  church.  The 
Adolph  bell  was  sold  to  the  Justices  of  the  Court  of  Sessions 
at  Barnstable,  the  county  seat.  Here  it  was  used  until  the 
Court  House  was  burned  in  1324,  then  on  the  building  occupied 
by  the  Probate  and  Register  of  Deeds  offices  until  now,  in  the 
new  Court  House,  it  hangs  in  state  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of 
Courts,  perfectly  preserved,  with  the  latin  inscription  and  date 
1675  perfectly  legible,  cast  in  the  metal. 

Others  we  would  mention  here  are  the  ministers,  Benj. 
Fessenden,  Abraham  Williams  and  Ezra  Goodwin  also  the 
doc-tors  Eldad  Tupper,  Benj.  Fessenden,  Nathaniel  Freeman 
and  Thomas  Smith  of  the  old  days  and  only  a  few  years  ago 
was  here  laid  to  rest  in  a  beautiful  spot  of  his  own  choosing, 
looking  toward  the  head  of  the  pond,  our  young  and  talented 
Dr.  Robei-t  H.  Faunce.  Famous  in  military  affairs  of  the  town 


we  note  the  inscriptions  of  Capt.  Richard  Bourn,  Col.  Silas 
Bourn,  Lieut.  Benj.  Freeman,  Stephen  Nye,  Col.  Obed  Nye. 
Joseph  Nye  Esq.,  Brig.  Gen.  Freeman,  Col.  Abram  Williams. 
Col.  William  Basset t  and  many  others  of  the  earlier  wars, 
while  near  the  north  entrance  lies  a  Civil  War  veteran,  Lieut. 
James  Atherton. 

On  the  hill  above  and  beyond  these  graves  the  Historical 
Society  has  placed  a  granite  block  to  mark  the  site,  where, 
in  1768,  the  powder  house  was  built,  of  brick.  In  this  was 
stored  the  powder,  in  great  iron  kettles,  the  other  ammunition 
and  the  guns. 

Going  down  Grove  St.,  following  the  pond,  we  pass  old 
houses,  built  before  1700  and  others  of  a  later  date,  the  most 
recent  of  which  is  W.  R.  Procter's.  Then  the  old  Newcomb 
home,  formerly  a  prominent  inn,  where  illustrious  men,  in 
Colonial  times  were  registered  as  guests. 

At  the  top  of  the  hill  stands  the  High  School,  the  land  for 
it  was  given  by  a  townsman,  and  the  building  was  erected  with 
funds  of  the  old  Academy  trustees. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Mill  Pond  stood  Dexter's  Grist  Mill, 
where  now  the  Tag  Shop  stands.  The  supply  of  water  to  turn 
the  wheel  came  from  never-failing  springs  in  the  upper  pond, 
for  nearly  three  hundred  years. 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  within  the  borders  of  Sandwich 
are  twenty-five  lakes  and  ponds,  attractive  alike  to  tourists, 
artists  and  fishermen.  Wakeby  Lake  is  the  most  beautiful 
and  by  many  is  called  a  minature  Winnepesaukee. 

The  Town  Hall  is  just  north  of  this  spot,  built  in  1834,  until 
which  time  all  Town  Meetings  had  been  held  in  the  church. 

In  the  square  near  by  stands  a  soldier's  monument  of  gran- 
ite, presented  to  the  town  by  William  Eaton  in  memory  of  his 
father,  and  nearly  across  the  street,  stands  the  Nye  Boulder, 
erected  by  the  Nye  Family  Association,  in  memory  of  common 
ancestors.  Benjamin  Nye  and  Katherine  Tupper.  his  wife. 


On  the  opposite  corner  is  the  site  acquired  by  the  Sandwich 
Historical  Society,  Inc.  on  which  to  erect  a  building.  This 
Society  of  more  than  a  hundred  members  has  already  a  valu- 
able collection,  now  kept  in  the  room  used  for  its  meetings,  in 
the  Town  Hall. 

From  here,  following  Main  St.  to  the  west,  we  pass  three 
summer  residences  of  prominent  men  and  several  houses  built 
two  hundred  years  ago.  New  comes  the  Faunce  Demonstar- 
tion  Farm.  This  was  a  gift  to  the  town  from  one  of  the  old 
families.  Its  purpose  is  to  encourage  and  promote  agriculture, 
better  living  and  better  homes.  The  executive  power  is  vested 
in  a  board  of  trustees,  named  by  the  donor  and  its  superin- 
tendent is  connected  with  the  Extension  Service  of  the  Mass. 
Agr.  College  at  Amherst. 

Going  still  farther  to  the  west  we  approach  the  Bay 
View  Cemetery  and  near  the  first  entrance  stands  the  simple 
toulder  with  its  beautiful  epitaph,  "in  memory  of  the  renowned 
actor,  Joseph  Jefferson."  He  chcse  this  spot  for  his  last 
resting  place  because  of  his  love  for  Sandwich.  Charles  Jeffer- 
son, his  son  who  owned  a  home  in  town  for  several  years  is 
buried  near  by.  Above  the  western  entrance  stands  a  granite 
memorial  to  Bishop  Mallalieu,  whose  wife  was  a  native  of  this 
town. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  is  the  Freeman  Ceme- 
tery, and  here  lie  buried  many  prominent  citizens,  among 
them  Major  Charles  Chipman  who  fell  in  the  Civil  War,  and  at 
whose  grave  taps  are  sounded  by  a  bugler  durirg  the  service 
at  the  mound  for  the  unknown  dead,  on  Memorial  Day. 

After  passing  Bay  View,  back  on  the  hills  to  the  right, 
formerly  stood  the  residence  of  the  Cape  Cod  Historian.  Rev. 
Frederick  Freeman.  Here  he  kept  a  boarding  school  with  the 
chapel  beside  the  road. 

A  half  mile  further  on,  where  the  Main  St.  meets  the  old 


Plymouth  way,  up  in  the  field  to  the  right,  are  found  the  Sad- 
dle and  Pillion  Rocks,  indicating  the  last  resting  place  of  Ed- 
mund Freeman  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  placed  there  at  her 
death,  Feb.  1676  and  upon  which  their  descendants  have  recent- 
ly placed  a  tablet . 

Coming  back  to  the  First  Church  and  turning  east  we  pass, 
on  the  right,  the  Weston  Memorial  Library,  bequeathed  to  the 
town  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weston,  natives  of  the  town,  represent- 
ing the  savings  of  a  life  time. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  stood  for  years  what 
was  known  as  Boyden's  Block.  This  with  an  adjoining  stable 
was  burned,  Dec.  23,  1913.  An  up-to-date  fire-proof  building 
has  been  built  on  the  old  site  by  J.  R.  Holway. 

The  Central  House,  next  was  a  celebrated  hostelry  in  the 
early  days.  One  time  called  Fessenden's  Inn.  And  has  num- 
bered among  its  guests  many  renowned  men  of  the  country. 
One  room  which  was  often  occupied  by  Daniel  Webster,  is  con- 
tinued to  be  called  the  Webster  Room. 

Post  Office  Square,  where  a  band  stand  stood  for  many 
years,  has  recently  been  improved,  by  grading  and  seeding 
a  circle  about  the  stately  elm,  surrounding  it  \v  ith  a  curbing. 
Sandwich  is  noted  for  its  beautiful  trees,  of  which,  according 
to  our  tree  warden,  there  are  over  twelve  hundred,  three 
fourths  of  which  are  elms. 

The  St.  Johns  Episcopal  Church  is  on  the  left  and  further 
on  is  the  Methodist  Church.  It  has  lately  been  remodelled  and 
added  greatly  to  its  property  by  acquiring  the  conrer  lot  at 
Main  and  Liberty  Streets. 

Going  down  Jarves  St.,  on  the  right,  are  the  offices  of  the 
Canal  Construction  Co.  which  began  work  on  the  Cape  Cod 
Canal  in  1909,  and  bought  this  Burgess  House.  Next  is  the 
Corpus  Christi  Catholic  Rectory  and  Church. 

The  old  Tobey  House  at  the  corner  of  Cross  St.  was  the 
first  dwelling  on  the  street. 


Below  the  railroad  crossing  is  the  property  formerly  owned 
by  the  Boston  and  Sandwich  Glass  Company,  which  made  its 
fii'st  glass  July  4,  1825.  Glass  in  uncounted  varieties,  forms 
and  colors  was  manufactured  continuously  until  1883,  when  a 
few  men  instigated  a  strike  and  the  factory  closed.  The  pro- 
perty changed  hands  several  times  and  several  atempts  were 
made  to  revive  the  industry  but  each  in  turn  failed.  Only  one 
of  the  buildings  is  used  now  and  in  that  has  been  started  a 
Freezer  and  Cold  Storage  plant. 

The  old  Cape  Cod  Factory  further  up  the  railroad  was  later 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  wood  veneers  but  is  now  standing 
idle. 

The  Glass  Cutting  Establishment  of  N.  Packwood  and  Co. 
on  the  left,  was  built  for  a  tack  factory. 

Back  to  the  corner  of  Main  and  Liberty  Sts.  we  pass,  after 
a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  road  which  leads  to  the  State  Trout 
Hatchery,  then  on  down  to  Spring  Hill  River  where  there  was 
a  grist  mill  away  back  in  1640.  when  Benj.  Nye  brought  his 
bride  here  from  the  Tupper  House.  Later  there  was  a  fulling 
mill  and  in  1825  a  saw  mill,  to  furnish  barrel  staves  for  the 
Sandwich  Glass  Works.  Now  the  power  is  used  for  a  small 
glass  cutting  shop. 

Going  around  Spring  Hilll,  we  pass  sites  of  two  famous 
institutions  of  learning.  Paul  Wing's  School  for  both  boys  and 
girls  and  Eliza  Gould  Wings  Applegrove  Seminary,  for  young 
ladies.  Beyond  these,  the  last  of  the  old  fort  houses,  the 
Stephen  Wing  House,  built  in  1641,  with  one  room  stoned  up, 
to  be  used  as  a  garrison  in  case  of  an  Indian  attack. 

The  Friends,  or  Quaker  Meeting  house  is  an  interesting 
building.  The  present  edifice  was  built  in  1812.  Near  by  is 
its  cemetery  with  the  plain  headstones,  and  beyond,  on  th  ^ 
right  is  the  one-half  acre  of  land  deeded  by  the  town  in  1695 
to  "our  neighbors  called  Quakers,  for  a  burial  place,  above 


Canal  Swamp  on  the  hill  Ix^tween  the  ways"  there  are 
no  headstones,  but  it  is  surronded  by  a  substantial  wall. 

Going  on  down,  crossing  the  railroad  at  Great  Pond  we 
climb  a  hill  and  at  its  foot  find  the  Jonathan  Nye  house,  built 
in  16 35.  and  near  it.  across  the  brook  is  the  Grange  Hall.  On 
this  mill-steam  has  been  a  grist  mill,  fulling  mill,  carding 
machine,  and  later  a  jewelry  shop.  Now  the  State  owns  it. 
with  a  large  trout  hatchery  adjoining.  Next  to  this  estate. 
was  the  one  where  lived  in  1656.  Edward  Perry,  the  ancestor 
of  August  Belmont.  the  New  York  financier,  whose  money 
has  built  the  Cape  Cod  Canal.  This  interesting  inland  water- 
way, the  tourist  must  visit  before  leaving  Sandwich. 


